Doylestown student charged in threat incident that closed community college campus

Jo Ciavaglia @JoCiavaglia

Friday

Oct 5, 2018 at 4:31 PMOct 5, 2018 at 6:14 PM

Doylestown Township resident Sarah Squitieri was identified early in the police investigation as the anonymous tipster who reported the alleged threat against the Newtown Township campus of Bucks County Community College, according to authorities.

A 20-year-old Bucks County Community College student has been charged with phoning in a threat that led to a one-day shutdown of the Newtown Township campus last month.

Authorities allege that Sarah Squitieri called in an anonymous tip to township police Sept. 25 claiming that someone named “Karl” sent a group text threatening to commit “acts of violence” using firearms and explosives the following day. Police immediately notified college security and officials, who canceled classes for Sept. 26 at the school.

A subsequent police investigation determined that no threat existed and the campus reopened Sept. 27.

Newtown Township police identified Squitieri as the anonymous tipster early in the investigation, according to police. When detectives interviewed her she allegedly provided information and details that contradicted what she provided through the anonymous tip.

Through additional investigation including interviews, video footage and telephone records detectives determined Squitieri allegedly provided “false and misleading” information and there was no credible threat to the campus, police said.

Squitieri was arrested Thursday at her Doylestown Township home and charged with falsely reporting a bomb threat, a third-degree felony. She was arraigned before District Judge Gary Gambardella and sent to Bucks County Prison in lieu of 10 percent of $100,000 bail.

Squitieri had been a student at the college since 2017 majoring in environmental sciences, according to BCCC spokeswoman Jean Dolan.

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